EU support for artists and the cultural and creative sector during the coronavirus crisis
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BRIEFING
EU support for artists and the
cultural and creative sector
during the coronavirus crisis
SUMMARY
The EU's cultural and creative sectors (CCS) are a European Union economic and societal asset,
providing an important contribution to GDP, and shaping identity and diversity.
Despite the significant contribution of the CCS to the economy and people's wellbeing, the situation
of operators and workers in the sector is often precarious and their work seasonal. The outbreak of
the Covid-19 pandemic particularly threatens the future of artists, creators and cultural operators,
who are severely impacted by the enforcement of social distancing measures and the consequent
postponements, cancellations or closures of events, live performances, exhibitions, museums and
cultural institutions.
EU Member States reacted quickly to counterbalance the consequences of Covid-19 containment
measures with support for cultural institutions and artists. At the EU level, measures have been
introduced to protect the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which predominate in CCS;
the self-employed, who are very numerous among artists and in CCS; as well as those who have lost
their jobs, a constant threat for those working in CCS. Sector specific measures have also been
discussed to protect the most vulnerable, including performing artists. A series of surveys and
mappings of different sectors are planned to help design a path towards the sector's recovery from
the confinement measures and the resulting change in audience behaviour.
The European Parliament, and its Committee on Culture and Education, call for sector-specific
support measures and funds to be earmarked for those who have supported confined populations
and health service professionals in particular, with their artistic output.
In this Briefing
Background
EU cultural employment and enterprises
Coronavirus consequences for the cultural sector
Member States support culture, culture supports
people
European Commission
Council
European Parliament
Artistic and cultural organisations' reactions
Perspective
EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
Author: Magdalena Pasikowska-Schnass
Members' Research Service
PE 649.414 – May 2020 ENEPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service Background Due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the EU, EU Member States have introduced various measures since February 2020, including social distancing, which puts many economic activities on hold. The confinement measures have put a strain on the cultural and creative sectors, where SMEs are predominant, and numerous independent freelance artists do not necessarily benefit from social protection and unemployment schemes. The employment structure in the sector differs according to the domain of the cultural activity, as well as the Member State and region. Creators, their public and prosumers (i.e. who are both content consumers and producers) are also impacted by the lockdown measures aiming at tackling the pandemic. Member States and their regions were struck by Covid-19 outbreaks at different times, to different degrees and national and regional authorities have applied different strategies at different moments in response. This situation also has its consequences for artists, writers and the cultural and creative sectors. Artists exposing their work in small galleries have missed a chance to make their names known, sell some of their work and have their costs at least partly covered. Theatre, dance and opera performances, concerts, exhibitions and art fairs have been cancelled, with different consequences for small private companies, as well as public ones, which probably will also see their financing reduced, and prestigious state-funded public venues. With the exception of press shops, which sometimes offer a limited choice of books, further measures have included closing bookshops, which have been trying to survive in the face of strong competition from digital books and press, and a low interest in reading. Music shops, cultural education institutions and enterprises, and freelance artists, share an uncertain fate. Many artists and creators have remained active during the confinement period and organised themselves to offer live concerts or art exhibitions from their balconies and windows, or streaming them via digital messaging platforms. They continue to create and to offer their production generously to their public. Those who are lucky enough to be employed by public theatres, opera houses, concert halls, or art schools, can count on some state-designed solutions that cover all the staff. For their part, freelance artists and creators who share their work for free need support to continue. Musicians need to practice and need time to do so, but they also need to pay their bills and taxes. While some artists and professionals have adopted a digital way to work, and thus can continue their activities and perhaps get paid, others have difficulties in monetising their works online. Writers and translators, who rarely survive on the revenue from their books, can continue, while other creative activities face difficulties. Art galleries are already showing their artists' works online, artists are reinventing their communication channels and business models and putting their works online via messaging platforms. Human creativity and innovation seem to have no limits. EU cultural employment and enterprises Cultural activity has an economic as well as a social and mental health dimension, which is particularly important during the period of measures against coronavirus. It plays an important role in society and can be a factor in social cohesion when people with different backgrounds engage in a common artistic project. This dimension seems to be a strong feature of cultural participation around the EU, where despite the confinement measures, citizens are participating in various spontaneous cultural initiatives via social media. Similarly, artists are contributing their creations online for free to help people overcome the hardships of the pandemic. Nevertheless, culture is also an economic activity on which artists and cultural workers depend for their economic survival. The sector includes a range of actors, from independent and freelance artists and creators, SMEs, to big international corporations and public cultural institutions. 2
EU support for artists and the cultural and creative sector during the coronavirus crisis
Cultural enterprises
Cultural enterprises carry out, among other activities:
creative, arts and entertainment activities;
architectural, specialised design, photographic, translation and interpretation activities;
manufacturing of: jewellery, printing, reproduction, musical instruments;
publishing of books, newspapers, journals, periodicals, computer games, production of films,
video and television programmes, sound recordings and music publishing;
distribution of: books, newspapers, stationery, music and video recordings in specialised
stores;
renting of video tapes and disks.
The share of the total number of
cultural enterprises varies Figure 1 – Share of cultural enterprises in all non-
according to their activity. financial EU enterprises, 2016, in %
Architecture, design and
8,0
photography account for more
7,0
than half of the total, followed by
6,0
film, television and music
5,0
production, and printing and
4,0
reproduction of recorded media,
together with manufacturing of 3,0
musical instruments and 2,0
jewellery at above 12 %. Retail 1,0
sales in specialised stores stands 0,0
SK
FR
BG
RO
FI
SE
BE
Sl
UK
NL
EL
EE
ES
AT
IT
LV
LU
LT
PT
PL
CZ
CY
DE
DK
HR
HU
EU - 28
at less than 9 %.
Cultural enterprises, of which
there are 1.2 million in the EU, Source: Culture Statistics, European Commission, 2019.
account for around 5 % of all
sectors (except finance) in the EU,
but this share ranges between 7.6 % in the Netherlands and 2.9 % in Slovakia (see Figure 1). In 2016,
the value-added share in the non-financial business economy was 2.7 % (€192 billion), almost equal
to food manufacturing and slightly higher than the motor trade sector.
Italy has the highest share of cultural
enterprises (see Figure 2) in the total number of Figure 2 – Cultural enterprises in Member
cultural enterprises in the EU, followed by States, as % of total EU cultural enterprises
France, Germany, Spain and (previously) the
MT LU
United Kingdom. These five Member States CY EE
accounted for almost 60 % of cultural IT
15%
LV HR
enterprises in the EU in 2016. They also Sl FI
BG LT
accounted for 79 % of added value produced FR DK SK
by the sector (see Figure 3) in the same five 12% CZ IE AT
Member States. In Spain and Italy, which have 4%
SE
RO EL
struggled with the consequences of the 2008 4% HU PT
DE BE CZ
financial crisis and are currently the Member 11%
PL
6% SE PL
States most hard-hit by the pandemic, also ES NL NL UK
7%
figure among those with a high share of 10% UK ES DE
8%
cultural enterprises in their economy. FR IT
As in other sectors of the EU economy, the
Data source: Eurostat, European Commission, 2017.
majority of cultural enterprises are SMEs
employing three persons per enterprise on
3EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
average, varying between 1.5 persons in
Czechia and 4.5 in Denmark. A majority of Figure 3 – Value-added by Member States'
those in the EU-28 who work in photographic cultural enterprises, as % of total EU cultural
activities (82.9 %) and in specialised design enterprises' value added
activities (74.8 %), was employed by micro- BE
enterprises that count less than 10 persons. MT LV 2% PL
3% SE
EE LT
UK 3%
The five-year survival rates for new cultural CY Sl 26%
NL
enterprises varies according to the Member BG SK 4%
State and is more than 50 % in Belgium (64 %), HR RO
EL HU ES
the Netherlands and Sweden, while it was CZ PT 6%
consistently below this rate in Denmark, FI DK
Germany, Spain, Italy, Hungary and Portugal. BE PL IT
9%
Film, video, TV programme production, sound SE NL
DE
ES IT
recording and music publishing had the FR DE
23%
FR
15%
highest chances of five-year survival except UK
for in France, Denmark and Spain which
recorded lower survival rates in this activity Data source: Eurostat, European Commission, 2017.
than their service economy's average.
Creative, arts and entertainment are among the cultural enterprises with lower five-year survival
rates on average than all service economy firms, with disparities among Member States and
domains of activity. The Netherlands again had a 12.8 percentage points higher five-year survival
rate for creative, arts and entertainment enterprises than the average for all services in the business
economy, while in Italy, France and Belgium, the rate was 10 percentage points lower than the rate
for all services in the business economy. Less than one third of the creative, arts and entertainment
enterprises created in 2011 in Germany, Spain, Lithuania and Italy had survived after five years.
These features can have significant repercussions for the sector once the pandemic is over and the
economy needs to push the restart button.
Cultural employment Figure 4 – Cultural employment as % of total
In 2018, 3.8 % (8.7 million) of all those 6,0
employed worked in the cultural 5,0
sector (see Figure 4), ranging
4,0
between 5.6 % in Estonia, 5.3 % in
Luxembourg and 5.2 % in Malta, and 3,0
1.6% in Romania, 2.7 % in Bulgaria 2,0
and 2.8 % in Slovakia. However, the 1,0
proportion of self-employed people 0,0
is more than double the average rate
RO
SK
FR
BG
BE
SE
SI
FI
UK
NL
EL
ES
EE
AT
IE
IT
LV
LT
LU
PT
PL
MT
DK
CY
CZ
DE
HR
HU
EU - 28
in the EU: self-employed people
accounted for almost 14 % of total Data source: Eurostat, European Commission, 2018.
employment in the EU-28 and more
than 30 % of cultural employment in
2018. In the Netherlands, Germany and France, the self-employed were about three times more
numerous in the cultural sector than in total employment (see Figure 5).
Over two million artists and writers (including interpreters, translators, journalists, creative and
performance artists) in the EU-28 account for almost one quarter of all cultural workers and nearly a
half of them (48 %) are self-employed, a proportion even higher than in cultural employment in
general (33 %) and almost three times higher than in total employment in 2018. However, in some
Member States the proportion is even higher. Three out of five artists and writers are self-employed
4EU support for artists and the cultural and creative sector during the coronavirus crisis
in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy, with Czechia and Germany coming just behind,
and one in two in Austria, Malta and Ireland.
Cultural employment is precarious
Figure 5 – Self-employed in cultural employment and by nature, with seasonal
total employment, in % employment in music and live
performance summer festivals, as
70
well as a high share of self-
60
employed people, and a smaller
50 share of full-time employment. In
40 2018, some 86 % of employees in
30 the EU-28 had a permanent
20
employment contract, while only
77 % were full-time employees in
10
the cultural sector. However, less
0
than two-thirds of all artists and
SE
FR
BG
FI
SK
BE
Sl
UK
NL
EE
ES
EL
AT
LU
IE
IT
LT
LV
PT
PL
MT
DK
DE
CY
CZ
HU
HR
EU- 27
writers (who were employees) in
artists, authors cultural employment total employment Spain (64 %) and Poland (65 %) had
a permanent contract. In France, this
Data source: Eurostat, European Commission, 2018. share was particularly low (60 %),
compared with the share of
employees across the whole
national economy with a permanent contract (83 %). The difference of 23 percentage points was
the largest recorded among any of the EU Member States. Gaps of 10 % were also registered in
Belgium, Malta, Italy, Ireland and Sweden.
Coronavirus consequences for the cultural sector
A recent study 1 on the economic impact of social distancing measures in France seems to confirm
that, due to administrative closures, the 'arts and leisure' together with 'hotel restaurants' sectors
are the hardest hit by the measures in place to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The study evaluates
the impact on the growth of valued added after six weeks of social distancing on the sector, among
the most affected, at -7.7 %, with an average drop in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) of
5.4 %, on a scale ranging from -9.2 % in Bulgaria and -4.3 % in Denmark.
An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD study of March 2020 evaluates
the potential initial impact of partial or complete shutdowns on private consumption in some G7
economies. It points to the highest, almost 10 %, decline in spending on recreation and culture in
the United Kingdom, followed by -7 % in Germany, -6 % in France and -5 % in Italy, with obvious
consequences for the sector and its workers. In many EU Member States the economy has slowed,
cultural institutions are closed and events are cancelled. Enterprises whose activities have stopped
or diminished significantly are at risk of collapse.
As the OECD demonstrates, the risks are high for creators, artists and those working in the
entertainment sector – a group of workers who are already vulnerable. With potentially large
numbers of people out of work and their disposable income drastically lowered, cultural
expenditure risks not being a priority for consumers. This shows that the current impossibility for
people to earn a living in the sector, will be followed by diminished audience expenditure on culture
and leisure.
A study of the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the management of cultural and creative
industries2 points to a possible decrease in public funding, leading to the disappearance of many
arts and heritage initiatives and downsizing of the sector to a mix of commercial and elitist cultural
initiatives and organisations. It also warns against the risk for young and avant-garde professionals,
5EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
whose activities may not survive. Such a situation could undermine cultural diversity, with severe
consequences for those Member States particularly vulnerable to the pandemic.
However, the current pandemic is different in nature – similarity to the 2008 financial and the
subsequent economic crisis would result in the sanitary crisis, and more or less strict lockdown
measures, leaving the economy on hold for only a few weeks in particular Member States. The
pandemic has resulted in individual artists, and creative and cultural enterprises being locked-down
for an unpredictable period and unable to continue their activity, unless they have the possibility to
go digital, and in the best-case scenario, when they are already strongly present on the internet and
able to monetise their output.
A digital cultural offer during coronavirus quarantine
The OECD's digital toolkit presents the situation of individuals facing the challenges of digital
technologies. The data highlights inequalities depending on age and income, pointing to the OECD
average 71.6 % of 55-74 year-olds using the internet and a 75.1 % average of households with the
lowest income. In the EU, the situation also differs according to Member States and regions,
regarding their digital infrastructure, its availability, the quality of connections and obviously, the
population's access to digital equipment. The digital divide as concerns equipment, the quality of
connection and skills, will deepen social and professional inequalities.
Such a situation, with obvious differences among Member States, regions and social groups, has an
impact on the possibility for cultural sector workers to go digital and continue their activity,
particularly in cultural and creative sectors where employment is precarious. It is also an additional
hurdle for artists, writers and newly launched cultural and creative enterprises, which face
competition from well-established dominant cultural and creative content providers, with possible
consequences for cultural diversity as the study on the 2008 economic crisis indicates. The situation
can have a heavy impact on artists and CCS in Member States particularly vulnerable to the
pandemic. It could be further undermined by a strong audio-visual presence in the EU of operators
representing dominant global players, who offer hours of films and entertainment to people in
coronavirus-linked quarantine all over the world, while local performing artists suffer heavy financial
consequences, as do closed bookshops, cinemas, museums and exhibitions.
On the other hand, it seems that the demand for digital cultural content and e-sales of cultural goods
and services have grown among populations under confinement measures. Some are already users
of video on demand (VOD) or subscription video on demand (SVOD) to watch films, or subscribe to
music streaming services, or e-commerce platforms – most
often international corporations, buy e-books or read Cancelled concerts and operas
newspapers online, others continue to consume pirated 3
live online
content. To address cultural needs, cultural institutions
such as concert halls, opera houses, theatres and museums As early as 12 March 2020, the Berliner
have made their productions and exhibitions available Philharmoniker orchestra livestreamed
online for free. They are joined by individual artists, actors, a cancelled concert on their 'Digital
Concert Hall', as the first in a series of
singers, visual artists, or event musical ensembles, who
concerts available for free.
stream their current or past work for free.
Opera houses are also online and
Questions however remain on what behaviour will result presenting their previous productions.
from this period of digital cultural consumption for free. Those participating in the EU Creative
Will artists who have streamed their productions for free Europe supported project for
manage to monetise their work once life returns to livestreaming their performances,
normal? Will new artists emerge from this period of intense 'Operavision', have a platform ready for
prosumer activity and be able to continue their creative disseminating their generous and free
work? Will cultural institutions increase their outreach to offer, used for instance by Opera
new audiences and be operational with potentially Comique in Paris, which has also
adapted its offer for children.
reduced public funding? Will traditional music and
bookshops, closed during the pandemic, survive the even
6EU support for artists and the cultural and creative sector during the coronavirus crisis
stronger competition of big international platforms selling books and recordings? Will small cultural
venues be able to operate?
Member States support culture, culture supports people
Individual Member States have introduced different
measures at different times, often tightening them Face masks produced in opera houses
progressively. Nevertheless, one of the first measures Public cultural institutions all over the EU are
was to cancel major events and public gatherings. contributing to the effort to tackle the
This meant museums, art galleries, theatres, opera coronavirus pandemic. For example,
houses, concert halls, cinemas and festivals were the costume workshops in opera houses in
first to be shut down, together with restaurants and Brussels, Paris or Bonn are producing face
cafés. Exhibitions in major museums with tickets masks for health professionals to help cope
booked long in advance were cancelled and visitors with a general shortage of this essential
protection against Covid-19.
were reimbursed or given vouchers, while the costs
of such expensive events still need to be covered. Source: Newsletter Musiq'3, 1 April 2020.
According to data provided to and gathered by the
European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education, almost all Member States have put or
plan to put in place specific measures to address difficulties experienced by the cultural sector and
artists. Various support measures for SMEs, such as deferred tax payments or social and
unemployment contributions can also cover CCS firms, as well as freelance and independent
workers. Some Member States, such as Slovakia, will use the EU Social Fund to support self-
employed people (including artists and cultural workers), who are inactive due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
While French cultural workers have called for support for all those heavily impacted by the
cancellation of cultural events, festivals, book fairs or live performances, the French government
proposed supportive measures on 19 March 2020, such as modifying the rules of the country's
specific unemployment scheme for artists and technicians in the sector (intermittents). It further
announced, among other measures, that artist-authors could benefit from support proposed for
enterprises negatively impacted by the pandemic with a lump sum from a solidarity fund, as well as
delay in payment of various bills, rents, and taxes and social contributions. The French government
also called on cultural operators to pay copyright dues and promised to reconsider the distribution
of rights collected via the private copyright mechanism and the collective management rights
system for the benefit of artist-authors in difficulty.
On 17 March 2020, Germany also recognised the importance of its artists and cultural and creative
sectors and the additional burden of cancellations of events due to the coronavirus pandemic, and
promised to support state sponsored activities (theatres, concert halls, and opera houses,
exhibitions and projects), suggesting wherever possible that events are replaced by their digital
versions.
This support initiative was welcomed by the Culture Council of Germany (Deutsche Kulturrat), which
also stressed the importance, size and high proportion of freelancers and SMEs and the precarious
nature of employment in the sector. The federal authorities earmarked €50 billion in support for
freelance artists and cultural and creative SMEs, together with many other measures such as access
to basic insurance, support for families with children, or tax relief.
Decisions on support for the cultural sector and artists are also taken at regional level, as for instance,
the Nord Rhein Westfalen authorities earmarking of €120 million in support for cultural institutions
and actors, as well as a one-off payment of up to €2 000 for freelance artists whose events were
cancelled due to the pandemic.
Cultural events in Italy were cancelled as of 9 March 2020, and on 16 March, exceptional indemnities
and measures for enterprises to cushion effects of unemployment were allocated for those from
7EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
tourist and cultural sectors with an emergency fund of €130 million for workers, authors, artists,
performing and interpreting artists in the film industry, live performance and audio-visual sectors.
In Belgium, Wallonia and Brussels authorities
earmarked €50 million for culture, sports, and
childhood and youth policies, with a focus on culture Promoting culture during pandemic
and childhood sectors. Belgian federal authorities plan Italy also launched a promotional campaign
to introduce various measures to support the sector, disseminating its artistic and cultural
which is suffering from the consequences of about ten richness, and entertainment across the world.
thousand cancelled cultural events during the It offers access to the resources of
summer festival high season. Cultural initiatives in archaeological sites, archives, libraries,
Belgium include concerts on social media, which also festivals, theatres, films, museums, and live
host museums, exhibitions, festivals, cultural events or entertainment, in an effort to project a
individual artists. On the other hand, in January, just as positive image of a country suffering greatly
from the Covid-19 pandemic.
the outbreak of Covid-19 was announced officially in
China, Flemish regional authorities cut funding for
culture considering it 'non-essential'.
European Commission
Social distancing was one of the recommendations issued by the European Commission at the
outbreak of the pandemic. It consisted of 'closure of social and cultural meeting places such as bars,
nightclubs, restaurants, cafeterias, museums, theatres, cinemas, sports clubs, etc.' and the
recommendation that 'all mass gatherings (sporting events, concerts, festivals, conferences, trade
fairs, parties, political rallies, etc.) must be stopped and, generally, gatherings should be
discouraged'.
As cultural policy is not an EU competence, EU level action in the cultural field in responding to the
coronavirus crisis is limited to the task of supporting Member States in their efforts to promote
cultural heritage and diversity, as well as the mobility of cultural professionals, artists and their work.
The coronavirus pandemic has created a situation requiring exactly such actions to accompany
Member States in their support for their artists and cultural sectors, so that a rich and diverse cultural
offer is preserved in the EU and that the pandemic does not affect European cultural heritage and
its workers, or artists' mobility, capacities and skills.
Support measures proposed by the Commission in the second half of March 2020 can help SMEs in
the cultural and creative sectors. Recognising the economic costs of social distancing, on 19 March,
Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis announced the EU priorities for efforts to cushion the
impact of Covid-19 on the EU economy, such as the protection of workers and self-employed.
Moreover, the Commission provided for more flexibility, via a temporary State-aid framework which
specifically mentions culture among the most badly-hit economic sectors as concerns employment
due to anti-Covid-19 social distancing and confinement measures. The framework covers Member
States' decisions to make generally applicable changes in favour of businesses, such as deferring
taxes, or subsidising short-time work across all sectors, enabling Member States to use the full
flexibility provided under State aid rules.
The actions covered include:
direct grants, selective tax advantages and advance payments: schemes to grant up to
€800 000 to a company to address its urgent liquidity needs,
state guarantees for loans taken by companies from banks,
safeguards for banks that channel State aid to the real economy.
Such actions targeting companies that suffer damage due to the Covid-19 outbreak are particularly
useful in support of heavily-hit sectors. Among them, the European Commission approved
€20 billion in Spanish guarantee schemes supporting companies and the self-employed affected by
8EU support for artists and the cultural and creative sector during the coronavirus crisis
the pandemic. Similarly, a Dutch request concerning a €12 million scheme to compensate for
cancellations of large public events due to the Covid-19 outbreak has also been approved. Many
more Member States have also requested the approval of support measures for SMEs.
The framework was later completed with financial measures such as a €37 billion Coronavirus
Response Investment Initiative (CRII) to support not only healthcare but also SMEs and the labour
market and other vulnerable elements of EU economies. The initiative is accompanied by €28 billion
from the structural funds, which cover labour market issues, and the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF),
which can play an important role in showing EU solidarity with Member States dealing with
emergency situations. The European Commission proposed to raise the level of advance payments
compensating for individual disasters of all categories from 10 % to 25 % of the expected EUSF
contribution, limited to a maximum of €100 million (raised from the current €50 million level). The
financial contribution shall be granted for operations, such as among many other measures, the
protection of cultural heritage and contributing to the cost of restoration (only up to the estimated
cost of returning it to its previous status). This instrument was previously put in place to help
earthquake-stricken areas in Italy where cultural heritage sites were destroyed.
On 2 April 2020, the European Commission proposed a new Covid-19 related European instrument
for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE). The SURE scheme
should also unlock further funding for SMEs and the self-employed in the CCS within a mechanism
of short-time work schemes in most EU Member States. A European scheme could provide more
universal cover than national schemes, and could also enhance protection for people facing a high
risk of poverty in face of the pandemic.
The Commission also reacted to lockdown measures in many Member States, which put numerous
events and projects under the Creative Europe programme, the only one devoted exclusively to
cultural and creative sector, on hold. Within the programme it proposed measures, such as:
flexibility for extended deadlines for current calls for proposals;
force majeure clause for current projects in difficulties due to the Covid-19 outbreak;
€5 million for cinemas affected by the pandemic in form of vouchers;
redirection towards virtual mobility and digital culture of a €2 million call for projects
(May 2020) in a support scheme for cross-border dimensions in performing arts;
more support for translation of literature – call currently under selection procedure;
debate on practicalities of an enhanced use of the Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee
Facility currently available under the programme;
creation of two platforms – one for Member States and one for the sector to share solutions
and ideas;
#CreativeEuropeAtHome campaign offering artists and cultural operators under the
programme a possibility to showcase their work. Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and
Youth Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton and the
Commission will share some of them on their Twitter accounts.
Commissioner Mariya Gabriel announced possible medium and long-term measures in the next
multiannual financial framework, targeting the CCS and potentially supportive of them:
Horizon 2020, cluster 2 on culture;
European Institute of Innovation and Technology, which will include a new Community of
Innovation and Communication devoted to culture and creative industries.
Council
A Council videoconference of Ministers of Culture on 8 April 2020 allowed for an exchange of
information and practices, and offered the Commissioner Mariya Gabriel an occasion to sum up
EU-level efforts targeted towards support for artists and the cultural sector. The measures
9EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
mentioned by the Commissioner showcase the solutions proposed at the EU level to be used by
Member States according to the needs of their cultural and creative sectors and artists.
European Parliament
On 26 March 2020, the European Parliament, in an extraordinary plenary session, adopted urgent
legislative proposals aimed at tackling the effects of the pandemic, making €37 billion available from
the Cohesion Funds for Member States to address the consequences of the crisis, and the
Commission proposals on a Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative. They supported the idea of
including the current Covid-19 crisis as a major public health emergency to be covered by the EU
Solidarity Fund, to support Member States and accession countries hit by major natural disasters.
During its April plenary session, Parliament approved temporary flexibility measures in the use of
the European structural and investment (ESI) funds for actions dealing with the impact of the
coronavirus induced crisis to be financed up to 100 % from the EU budget between July 2020 and
June 2021, together with greater simplification and flexibility in the rules on funding allocation that
the European Commission proposed as part of the second Coronavirus Response Investment
Initiative (CRII+). In a resolution adopted on 17 April 2020, Parliament underlined the special nature
of the creative sector and the difficulties faced by artists and called on the EU to provide support.
Committee on Education and Culture
The European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education issued a call to the EU and Member
States to support cultural and creative sectors facing the consequences of the pandemic related
lockdowns, affecting cinemas, small concert venues, theatres and museums already on
17 March 2020. It highlighted performances made available online for free by individuals and small
businesses whose economic survival is in question.
On 27 March 2020, Committee Chair Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany) stressed the imperative for
businesses and individuals in the cultural and creative sector to have access to the financial support
from the CRII adopted by the European Parliament during its extraordinary session the previous day.
The Committee pressed the Commission to mobilise additional sources of funding among existing
programmes to complement the considerable efforts at national level. The Committee is also of the
opinion that EU support can most usefully be delivered through access to bridging loans and to
other finance and proposes three basic options:
The Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee Facility under Creative Europe is a relatively new
instrument operating since June 2016 and tailored to the needs of CCS SMEs. The programme
as such does not offer sufficient solutions as it has a tiny part (0.14%) of the EU funds at its
disposal, but the guarantee can help address the cash flow problems of small creative
companies. The Facility, managed by the European Investment Fund, has been moved to a
new programme, InvestEU, for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027) still
under discussion.
In the Committee on Culture and Education's point of view, an extension of the existing
programme seems inevitable. It suggests two ways of topping it up: direct increase of the
Creative Europe budget or additional funding through the European Fund for Strategic
Investments (EFSI), put in place under 2014 Juncker's Investment Plan for Europe. However,
more money for the current Creative Europe programme is unlikely to yield enough additional
funding to cope with the current huge difficulties. Moreover, the discussion on its future
budget has been deadlocked since December 2019 due to Council opposition. Concerning
EFSI, to March 2019, the top-up provided €60 million with a potential €70 million added to the
Facility, and a cash injection of a similar order could be envisaged again. The Committee is of
the opinion that using the existing Facility, tailored to the specific needs of the cultural and
creative sectors, would be the preferred option. Banks delivering loans to CCS SMEs have
gathered expertise in evaluating the risks in the sector, which under the current circumstances
10EU support for artists and the cultural and creative sector during the coronavirus crisis
is a precious advantage. The Committee suggests two more existing instruments as solutions
(see below).
EFSI can provide access to finance for SMEs in cases where there is a market failure or where
investment conditions are sub-optimal. This is clearly the current situation. The Commission
could work with the European Investment Fund to channel direct support to the cultural and
creative sector. The Juncker plan did not specifically mention the CCS and the past record of
EFSI support for the CCS is weak. However, creative industries are included if they relate to the
digital sector which has received 9 % of investment. Some cultural and artistic activities could
potentially be regarded as social and also covered under the social sector.
The European Investment Fund (EIF), through its regular lending operations, provides access
to credit and finance to SMEs. The Commission, with the EIF, could ensure that support is
channelled to the CCS, potentially through an ad hoc financial instrument for the sector.
On 20 April 2020, the Committee sent letters to Commissioners Gabriel and Breton, stressing the
urgent need to support media hit by an 80 % decline in advertising revenues and playing a crucial
role in countering disinformation campaigns. It called for further efforts to provide more targeted
support for individual artists and the EU creative sectors and to ensure the money reaches them.
Artistic and cultural organisations' reactions
Many professional organisations from the cultural and creative sectors and artists have launched
surveys on artists' and other sector workers' conditions resulting from the pandemic. The
information gathered will feed into recommendations for further support for the sector to recover
from the effects of the pandemic.
The Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO), supported by the Creative Europe
programme, has launched a mapping exercise of the effects of coronavirus on museums, fearing the
majority of European museums would have difficulties to reopen. Its initial results confirm hardship
experienced by museums under the lockdown and their need to 'invest in Europe's museums now
and in the future, to mitigate the losses and to support what binds us together'.
Together with the Culture Action Europe and European Cultural Networks, platforms and cultural
organisations, on 20 March 2020, NEMO issued a joint letter to Commissioner Gabriel proposing
measures to cope with the impact of the pandemic on CCS and for the Creative Europe programme.
The authors of this call asked for flexibility as concerns eligibility periods for projects and the
framework, eligibility of costs so that cost related to cancelled events and projects would still be
eligible, a 'solidarity fee' for freelancers whose events and projects were cancelled, flexibility in the
format of a planned event, and additional funding for losses due to participation fees and refunds.
BEA Music, the representative organisation of producers and distributors of music and
entertainment in Belgium, called for a greater share of Belgian artists on radio and television to
support the artists via the copyright generated by their presence on public media.
Perspective
The live performance sector will suffer further consequences in relation to the likely cancellations of
summer festivals and cultural events, a key source of revenues in the sector. In its 15 April 2020
roadmap on recommendations, the European Commission recommends that mass gatherings such
as concerts and festivals are the last, fourth, stage of lifting any confinement measures. Meanwhile,
the Commission and the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education are
considering more targeted support measures and ways to adapt existing programmes to offer more
specific support for the cultural sectors and artists most affected.
In this respect, in April 2020, Unesco and the OECD launched initiatives where artists and cultural
sector specialists highlighted the role of culture and artists for social cohesion and mental health
11EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
during confinement measures, an urgent need to maintain the vivacity and diversity of the sector,
preserving its employment, and to include culture as a driver of post-coronavirus change. For this
ambition to become reality, it is important to pursue digitisation, to close the digital gap both
among artists and consumers, to ensure cultural inclusion and diversity, and to monetise artists' and
creators' production provided online. The EU Copyright Directive needs to be fully implemented to
protect creators' rights against international digital corporations that make content created in the
EU available without paying due rights or taxes. Such measures are important to ensure a proper
ecosystem for both private and public creative sectors, and to safeguard the cultural diversity of
small local companies and venues, including outside the digital environment.
ENDNOTES
1
J.-N. Barrot; B. Grassi; J. Sauvagnat, 'Sectoral effects of social distancing', April 2020.
2
L. Bonet; F. Donato; 'The Financial Crisis and its Impact on the Current Models of Governance and Management of the
Cultural Sector in Europe'; ENCACT Journal of Cultural Management and Policy, December 2011.
3
S. Witt, 'How Music Got Free. What happens when an entire generation commits the same crime?', The Bodley Head,
London, 2015.
DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT
This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as
background material to assist them in their parliamentary work. The content of the document is the sole
responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official
position of the Parliament.
Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is
acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy.
© European Union, 2020.
Photo credits: © zest_marina / Adobe Stock.
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